Total Connectivity Speeds Research and Support Of Field Operations

Abstract

Summary Research and field support roles In the oil field service industry have become Increasingly complex in the last 15 years. Experimental apparatus are more and more dependent on the data acquisition and processing capabilities of computers as the amount of data generated increases. The need to network these computers for data transport has, therefore, significantly increased. The type of network system selected depends on the goals that are to be achieved by the installation of such a system. Incorporation of existing equipment, communication between systems of different architecture, and future expandability are but a few of the necessary attributes. With these in mind, a computer network system was designed and is currently being Implemented. The system combines local and wide area networks of different protocols to acquire, process, and transport Information on a worldwide basis. The end result is faster development of new products and quicker response in support of field operations. Introduction Computers have become a necessity in the laboratory over the past 15 years. The use of inexpensive personal computers (PCs) has greatly enhanced the ability of the scientist to collect and process data from experimental work. The use of process data from experimental work. The use of networks has more recently come Into being for the PC environment and is now also becoming a PC environment and is now also becoming a necessity for the efficient sharing of data and the transfer of completed reports to their destinations. The following discussion will present the Implementation of a computer network In a research facility dedicated to the support of operations of a major oil field service company, One of the responsibilities of the research facility is to develop products for the servicing of oil and gas wells and for products for the servicing of oil and gas wells and for some Industrial applications. The laboratories also support field operations through field service projects, such as formation sample analysis, projects, such as formation sample analysis, stimulation and completion treatment designs, analytical services, and engineering support. Within this facility, computers of various sizes and architecture have been incorporated over the past 20 years. initially, several minicomputers were past 20 years. initially, several minicomputers were Installed In the laboratories for data acquisition and process control, some of which are still in use. Later, process control, some of which are still in use. Later, with the Introduction of the much less expensive personal computers. a number of testing stations personal computers. a number of testing stations were dedicated to single PCs. These PCs performed simple data acquisition and a limited amount of data processing. As the complexity of the various services offered Increased, so did the laboratory testing necessary to support these services. With this added complexity, the amount of data that needed to be processed vastly Increased. A short time after the implementation of PCs for data acquisition in the laboratory, it became apparent that the use of these same PCs for processing the data was not feasible. The need for a network to transfer the collected data to computers of greater processing speed and storage was evident. This would allow the laboratory PCs to return to their primary function while the data from the previous test was being processed.